Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Morning People

My boy likes to sleep late. Like a teenager he sleeps. This is the way it's always been, just part of our family rhythm. Since he was a babe I have been at home with him, yet working when I had the chance. I managed 40 hour weeks when I needed to... just grabbing the free time during naps in the early days, plus after bed time for a few hours on week days, then adding in a weekend day if I needed to when my husband was home to wrangle the boy. We've always had a family bed, and he wouldn't stir until I stirred. And since I was up late and sleeping late, he got in to the habit of sleeping late too. The boy has never witnessed dawn.

Until yesterday.

He really wanted to see the Orionid meteor shower. And peak viewing was supposed to be about 5:30am. I explained to my boy, my sweet boy who has a very weak grasp on numbers and zero grasp on time, what it means to set an alarm and wake up at that hour. And he was still game. So we did. He jumped up joyfully at the sound of my cell phone alarm (we don't keep clocks, an old trick from the baby days) and was ready to go. We pulled on our fleece and dragged our quilt on deck and pointed our eyes towards Orion (which he can always find faster than me) and waited.

Not a word was exchanged. And not a meteor was sighted. After what seemed like quite a long time of sky watching, as the dawn light began to transform the world around us, my boy broke the silence.

"I think this would be a good time to go fishing," he declared. Somehow he knew in his bones, that the only reason to rise this early was to catch fish.

But neither of us was willing to emerge from the womb of the quilt. So we chatted about what we heard. He talked about the reflections on the water and how they distorted images. We heard a flock of geese in the distance and then watched them emerge in a V, heading south. He marveled that there was a world buzzing around us before the sun was even fully up.
So... this is that thing they call morning.


"It's time for coco now," he declared. And into the warm embrace of the boat we scurried.

That morning was not one for meteor sighting in our slice of the sky. But now my boy knows what morning is. Morning is for coco. Morning is for cuddles in a favorite quilt. Morning is for fishing. Morning is for morning people.

6 comments:

Joy said...

What a sweet way for Z to experience the morning! I'm sorry he missed out on the meteor shower, but it sounds like he found something just as good. :)

The Curious Holts said...

Oh yes, we have a night owl here too. The family bed and unschooling life seem to just lead that way, don't they? We wanted to watch the show too, but got rained out here in Austin. Lovely post, as always.

Simple Mama said...

<3 <3 <3

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful way to spend a morning. We don't have clocks over here either. The only time I ever set an alarm is if I have an early flight to catch.

boatbaby said...

The clock thing: When Z was an infant he did the usual nurse all night thing. I realized that when I watched the clock, I got tired and frustrated. You know, "Oy, you just nursed 45 minutes ago!" counting in your head how many hours of sleep you got (or didn't get). So we tossed the clocks. My husband sets a cell phone alarm only when he needs to for work or when we have a flight to catch or appointment to keep. Other than that, we just do what our bodies tell us.
As for the baby/ toddler years, it was smooth sailing. Once I got rid of the clocks I slept sounder between nursings and was able to relax and be happier about the whole thing. He nursed every 2 hours 24/7 for 2.5 almost 3 years before he started "sleeping thru the night". But it was never a problem for me. Focusing on meeting his needs and enjoying the closeness was easier without a clock.

Little Lovables said...

gorgeous post, thank you!

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